Whitbread took over as the head coach of the Islanders in the offseason when Colin Clarke made the move to the RailHawks. Whitbread explains why he was the owners’ first choice in leading this year’s Puerto Rico NASL squad because his experience with the team as assistant coach since 2008. The English-born coach was first a player in his home country, playing for teams like Leyton Orient, Swindon Town, West Ham United, Portsmouth and Reading.

The Islanders coach talks about his team’s vast experience in CONCACAF Champions League play as well as CFU tournaments, which may have made the big difference when they defeated the Scorpions last weekend 4-0 in front of over 13,000 opposing fans.

He also explains his passion to reach out to the community in Puerto Rico and especially the charity work they have been doing with children’s organizations.

Jay and I also take a few minutes to run down this past week’s games.

Please join Jay and me in this latest episode of the IMSoccer News NASL Podcast.

You can find all past episodes of the North American Soccer League Podcast here.

I knew you were going to be talking about the Puerto Rico Islanders because Yankiboy’s ego came bulging out of my computers speakers and forced me to listen to the podcast outside! I wonder what things are like in the recording studio! J/K

Kudos to the Islanders for getting involved in their community and around the island. I would love to get a chance to go see them at some point in the near future. Great background on the CONCACAF stories. I would love to hear the extended version of coach Whitbread’s experience in foreign countries.